Color: In preserved specimens reddish brown above, creamy white below. Upper part of head, back, and sides of body and tail with numerous rounded or elongate lighter patches, bordered by dark. Sides with a row of dark patches and numerous smaller dark spots. First dorsal black posteriorly, anterior freckled or more or less striped grey and black. Second dorsal freckled with dark, forming more or less distinct oblique bars, and a dark edge to the fin. Anal white with a black terminal longitudinal band, interrupted by the rays, which are white and hence form a light outer edge to the dark band. Upper part of caudal with transverse rows of rather larger dark spots, lower border of the fin with a narrow dark sub terminal and a light terminal longitudinal band. Ventrals and upper part of pectorals freckled with dark spots, lower half of pectorals uniform. A dark blotch before base of pectoral and another in its axil.

Height 7.5-9.5, 9.7-12.1 in length with caudal. Head measured from gill openings to tip of snout 3.7-4, 4.8-5.2 in length with caudal. Length of head, measured as above, 1-1.1 in its breadth. Eyes 2.8-3.3, 1-1.2 in snout, contiguous, the inter-orbital space forming a rather sharp bony. A smooth are behind eye, Surrounded laterally and posteriorly by a rugose, more or less ridged or honey combed bony area, covered by thin skin. Mouth horizontal, lower jaw included. Maxillary not quite reaching to below front border of eye. Preopercular process nearly straight, with a spine anteriorly, tapering in a point posteriorly and with 4-6 rather coarse barbs along its inner side, the barbs directed anteriorly. Branchial openings one eye diameter behind eye, their distance equal to the distance between outer border of eyes. Lateral lines of both sides beginning close to the inner side of the branchial openings, connected here by a transverse branch, and continued forwards as a branch, which bifurcates behind eye, one branch running downwards and bifurcating again in a preopercular and an opercular branch, the other continued forwards and ending below middle of eye. Posteriorly the lateral lines are connected by a transversal branch running over the back of the caudal peduncle close to the caudal base. First dorsal less high than second one, the first spine about equal to snout. In males the first spine is prolonged into a filament. Last ray of second dorsal about equal to snout and eye, longer than median rays, but slightly shorter than first ray, Anal rays slightly increasing in length to the last, which equals snout and half eye. Ventrals about equal to distance between branchial openings and tip of snout, pectorals shorter. Caudal pointed, in males the two median rays are produced.